Gillard fends off questions on Rudd 'deal'

Ms Gillard refused to discuss the details of her meeting with Mr Rudd.

Alan Porritt: AAP

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has batted away questions about whether she went back on a deal that she made with Kevin Rudd over a leadership handover.

Mr Rudd was toppled from the prime ministership last month after Ms Gillard challenged him for the leadership.

Yesterday Ms Gillard appeared at the National Press Club in Canberra where she sought to shore up the Government's economic credentials ahead of the federal election.

The Nine Network's Laurie Oakes asked her a series of detailed questions over what she and Mr Rudd spoke about during a long meeting they held the night before she was due to challenge him in a leadership spill.

Mr Oakes asked whether it was true that Mr Rudd was planning on an October election and he agreed to hand over the leadership to Ms Gillard if he continued to perform badly in the polls in the lead-up to the campaign.

"Is it also true that you agreed that this offer was sensible and responsible... and that when the meeting resumed you said you'd changed your mind, you'd been informed that he didn't have the numbers in Caucus and you were going to challenge anyway?" he asked.

Ms Gillard refused to discuss the details of her meeting with Mr Rudd.

"I've made it very, very clear that I will never be speaking publicly about my discussions with Kevin Rudd on that night," she said.

"It's not my intention to canvass any of the matters that were discussed in that room.